


Failure

by MistressRen (Jokers_Sanity)



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Darth Tantrum and his Evil Space Ginger, Depression, Domestic Fluff, Established Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Hux Has No Chill, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, M/M, Men Crying, Sarcasm, Space Husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 01:11:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13330323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jokers_Sanity/pseuds/MistressRen
Summary: There was an endless list of things that General Hux did not like about Kylo Ren... and seeing him, reduced to tears, looking impossibly broken in the middle of their bed... That was definitely at the top of the list.





	Failure

 

Failure.

It had been three days since their failed assault on the tattered remains of the Resistance, and the new Supreme Leader had yet to leave his bed. He truly cut an imposing image, curled in the middle of their queen-sized bed, clothed only in a pair of soft cotton leggings and Hux's favorite leather duster. He was cuddling that damn duster like a teddy bear, his face buried just beneath the collar so that with each breath he drew in a lungful of Hux's unique musk.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hux stood in the doorway to their quarters, arms interlocked behind his back and green eyes narrowed on the pitiful man before him. It might've been understandable for a day, given the fact that he'd just lost another member of his family (even if the old bastard  _had_ tried to kill him), perhaps two... but three?

"I  _was_ sleeping." Kylo grumbled, one chocolate brown eye blinking open and glaring a hole through the red-haired man's skull. 

"I didn't know you felt so strongly for my duster." Hux snapped back, his normally beautiful voice distorted by the dark red handprint-shaped bruise on his neck.

Kylo's eye closed, and the duster shifted in his arms. The First Order patch on the left shoulder had started to peel off, and the elbows were more than slightly worn... he certainly would never wear it in public; in fact, he could've sworn he'd sent the ratty old thing to the incinerator, "It's warm."

Walking over to the bed, he grabbed a handful of leather and attempted to yank it out of Kylo's arms. "So is a shirt. Why don't you try wearing one?" Kylo's eyes shot open and he actually  _whined_ , pulling back with a bit more force than necessary. "Why are you so attached to this ratty old thing, anyway?"

The raven frowned, "Why do you care?" When he saw that Hux wasn't about to let up, he let the duster go and turned his back on the ginger with a dramatic huff.

"Why can't you ever act your age?" Hux was looking the duster over with a critical eye, his glove-covered fingers slipping through a particularly ugly hole made by blaster-fire.

" _I was sleeping._ " Kylo reminded him, exasperation clear in his voice. "And you just stormed in here, demanding to know all about my sleeping habits, and -"

But Hux wasn't listening. The ginger was far more fascinated with the tears that were currently streaking down Kylo's scarred face, his pale skin flushed in a mixture of indignation and anger. Perhaps even more fascinating was the fact that the raven seemed absolutely oblivious to the tears which were streaking down his face, far too concerned with his pointless rant about how Hux is always insisting he'd be so much less of a grouch if he stuck to a regular sleep cycle...

The man had murdered his father in cold blood, and had not so much as batted an eye. He'd led countless armies of Stormtroopers into bloody, ruthless battles, and he had never so much as hesitated to deliver the final blow. But something about facing Luke Skywalker had shaken him to his core, had broken him in a way that Hux wasn't sure was fixable. There was an endless list of things that General Hux did not like about Kylo Ren... and seeing him, reduced to tears, looking impossibly broken in the middle of their bed... That was definitely at the top of the list.

"Just imagine if the fleet could see you now... their fearless leader reduced to a sniveling mess over a damn duster." He didn't say this nastily, but Kylo seemed to take it like a slap to the face. The tears were replaced with anger, but when he reached out to force choke his General... nothing happened.

"I. Am. Not.  _Weak._ " His hand was shaking. Hell, his whole  _body_ was shaking. But nothing was happening.

"What's the matter, love? Can't get it up?" Hux laughed, before taking a seat at the foot of the bed and grabbing the larger man's wrist with a bit more force than necessary.

"I could slice you in half if I wanted to." Kylo grumbled, sounding much like a petulant child who had just been told he would not be recieving any dessert.

"Of course you could." Hux reasoned easily, not at all as intimidated as he should be.

Hux continued to hold his wrist for several moments, until the shaking eventually subsided. Kylo was certain that there would be bruising, if he actually cared to look. Instead, he twisted his wrist slightly, so that their fingers interlocked. "Can we... Is this..?"

"I didn't know that monsters liked to hold hands." And there it was again, that gentle teasing that had Kylo's hackles raised almost immediately.

"They do when they're sad." Came the response, as simple as it was complex.

With a not-so-gentle tug, Hux collapsed onto the bed beside him and Kylo rested his head on his chest, just above his heart. Hux's natural scent... woodsy, with an undertone of gunmetal and a hint of aftershave... It was a comfort to him. It soothed the ache inside his belly, the nagging at his core that told him what an absolute and total failure he was and that he would be. Everyone,  _everyone_ that had come into his life and put their faith in him, he'd ultimately let down. 

It was only a matter of time until Hux joined their ranks.

So he clung to an old, ratty duster that he'd pulled out of the incinerator pile - he'd convinced himself that, when the time came, it would be the only piece of his lover that would be left behind in the aftermath. Whether Hux inevitably grew tired of dealing with his bullshit and defected to the Resistance, woke up one morning and decided he couldn't stand to see Ren's face on the opposite pillow for a moment longer, or he fell in battle... Eventually, Hux would leave. Everyone leaves. Because Kylo was, and had always been, a failure.

He'd failed Luke as a student, unable to overcome the call of the Dark Side of the Force. 

He'd failed his father, unable to accept the affection that he'd always craved, unwilling to accept the hand reaching out from the light to draw him out of the darkness. 

He'd failed Snoke, unable to finish the Resistance and kill his mother when he had the chance, unable to snuff out that last ray of hope.

He'd failed the First Order, unable to let his vendetta against Luke go long enough to snuff out the final dregs of the Resistance...

Failure.

The duster was slipped back into his arms, as Kylo was brought into the protective fold of Hux's embrace. They must've cut a truly imposing figure, the new Supreme Leader now sobbing openly into his General's chest, while the General looked down in disdain at the stain forming on his last good off-duty First Order-issued uniform. He pressed a soothing kiss to the curve of Kylo's temple, whispering assurances that the Resistance would pay for their insolance in blood.

"Hux..." Kylo whispered, once he'd finally gotten ahold of himself.

"Hmm?" It was now the red-head's turn to counter with the fact that he'd almost been sleeping, but this thought was brushed aside in favor of listening to whatever it was the newly christened Supreme Leader had to say. For once, all sarcastic banter aside, he simply said, "Yes?"

"The little Jedi nobody has made a mockery of me for the last time." He growled, "And I will not rest until I see the last of the light fade from her eyes. She will die by  _my_ hands. And this time," their eyes met, and Hux felt a cold shiver chase down his spine, "I will not fail."


End file.
